THE BLUE-BIRD. 223 



whole family of them are often seen, thus situated, as if 

 receiving lessons of dexterity from their more expert 

 parents, who can espy a beetle crawling among the grass 

 at a considerable distance, and after feeding on it, in- 

 stantly resume their former position. But whoever informed 

 Dr. Latham that " this'bird is never seen on trees, though 

 it makes its nest in the holes of them !" might as well 

 have said that the Americans are never seen in the streets, 

 though they build their houses by the sides of them. For 

 what is there in the construction of the feet and claws of 

 this bird to prevent it from perching ? Or what sight 

 more common to an inhabitant of this country than the 

 Blue -bird, perched on the top of a peach or apple-tree ; 

 or among the branches of those reverend, broad-armed 

 chestnut trees, that stand alone in the middle of our fields, 

 bleached by the rains and blasts of ages ? 



The Blue-bird is six inches and three quarters in length, 

 the wings remarkably full and broad; the whole upper 

 parts are of a rich sky blue, with purple reflections ; the 

 bill and legs are black ; inside of the mouth and soles of 

 the feet, yellow, resembling the color of a ripe persimmon ; 

 the shafts of all the wing and tail feathers are black ; 

 throat, neck, breast, and sides partially under the wings, 

 chestnut ; wings, dusky black at the tips ; belly white ; 

 sometimes the secondaries are exteriorly light brown ; the 

 bird in that case has not arrived at full color. The female 

 is easily distinguished by the duller cast of the back, 

 the plumage of which is skirted with light brown, and by 

 the red on the breast being much fainter, nd not descend- 

 ing near so low as in the male ; the secondaries are also 

 more dusky. This species is found over the whole United 

 States ; in the Bahama Islands, where many of them win- 

 ter, as also in Mexico, Brazil, and Guana. 



As the Blue-bird is so regularly seen in winter, after the 

 continuance of a few days of mild and open weather, it 

 has given rise to various conjectures as to the place of his 



